Coaches, former players pay tribute to coaching icon Holley

A hearse carries Jack Holley’s casket to the cemetery following Friday’s funeral at Legion Stadium in Wallace, where hundreds of former players, fellow coaches, friends and family gathered to remember him.

Last Modified: Friday, May 24, 2013 at 9:44 p.m.

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It proved to be a remembrance of the North Carolina high school football coach with the most all-time victories – 412 – and who passed away Monday from a chronic form of leukemia.

Joey Price, the Wallace-Rose Hill coach, started the opening prayer with Holley's signature "Yeah, Baby'' saying. The ceremony ended with the song "Sixty Minute Man."

Former players and coaches showed up in droves for a service fit for a king.

"I love Jack; he is my best friend and a great man,'' said Frank Jernigan, one of Holley's longtime assistants. "Goodbye Jack. I love you.''

Besides Jernigan, other speakers included daughter Jemma Imwalle; Luanne Johnson, whose late son, Will Johnson, played for Holley; as well as former player Ricky Brown.

A little more than an hour before the start, coaches and friends congregated near the end zone to exchange pleasantries.

Richard Gore remembers first encountering Holley at age 11 when he served as the Tabor City football team manager before eventually playing for and serving under him as an assistant at South Columbus.

Gore and everyone agreed that having the service on a platform at the 50-yard line was the perfect location.

"Other than home, he probably spent the better part of his life on a field like this,'' said Bob Lewis, a longtime rival coach and Holley's predecessor at Harrells Christian Academy, where Holley coached his final game in 2010.

"Jack was always a special friend,'' Lewis continued. "He was a very caring person. When my boys were little and Battle (Holley's son) was little, we used to carry them camping.''

Lewis carpooled with veteran coaches Al Britt of Hobbton and Gary Fowler of Clayton to the Holley home on Wednesday during an informal visitation. Current Harrells coach Brian Aldridge then arrived, along with Price.

Lewis remembers it resembled a coaches' clinic, much like the funeral.

"We sat around and had a good time,'' Lewis said. "We talked about old times and stuff like that. Jack would have enjoyed being there.''

Holley coached for 48 years, and Hoggard coach Scott Braswell admits being partial to old football coaches, who also are difference-makers in the lives of players.

Shortly after Hoggard hired Braswell in the mid-1990s, he didn't know what to make of Holley, with his flat-top haircut, when he first met him.

However, it did not take long for them to form a friendship, with occasional rounds of golf.

"Your first thought is drill instructor,'' Braswell said. "After a while, you realize he had warmth that you might not pick up at first glance.

"The turnout for the funeral was a testament to the many lives he touched. It is a tribute to a beautiful man.''

Not everyone close to Holley attended the funeral and burial at Rockfish Cemetery. Lifelong friend and former NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel did not.

He said it was difficult to interact with the Holley family during the grieving process, plus he is coping with the imminent death of a cousin suffering from brain cancer.

"The one thing about Jack was he embodied everything sports is supposed to be about: honesty, character and heart,'' Gabriel said by phone Friday morning. "That was Jack Holley. They only made one of him and he will be missed.

"I still run into people when I am out on the road that were coached by Jack,'' Gabriel said. "They have nothing but unbelievable things to say about the man.''

<p>WALLACE | Coach Jack Holley's funeral felt like a typical football Friday, with a playoff atmosphere at Thell Overman Field at <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9931"><b>Legion Stadium</b></a>.</p><p>It proved to be a remembrance of the North Carolina high school football coach with the most all-time victories – 412 – and who passed away Monday from a chronic form of leukemia.</p><p>Joey Price, the Wallace-Rose Hill coach, started the opening prayer with Holley's signature "Yeah, Baby'' saying. The ceremony ended with the song "Sixty Minute Man."</p><p>Former players and coaches showed up in droves for a service fit for a king.</p><p>"I love Jack; he is my best friend and a great man,'' said Frank Jernigan, one of Holley's longtime assistants. "Goodbye Jack. I love you.''</p><p>Besides Jernigan, other speakers included daughter Jemma Imwalle; Luanne Johnson, whose late son, Will Johnson, played for Holley; as well as former player Ricky Brown.</p><p>A little more than an hour before the start, coaches and friends congregated near the end zone to exchange pleasantries.</p><p>Richard Gore remembers first encountering Holley at age 11 when he served as the Tabor City football team manager before eventually playing for and serving under him as an assistant at South Columbus.</p><p>Gore and everyone agreed that having the service on a platform at the 50-yard line was the perfect location.</p><p>"Other than home, he probably spent the better part of his life on a field like this,'' said Bob Lewis, a longtime rival coach and Holley's predecessor at Harrells Christian Academy, where Holley coached his final game in 2010.</p><p>"Jack was always a special friend,'' Lewis continued. "He was a very caring person. When my boys were little and Battle (Holley's son) was little, we used to carry them camping.''</p><p>Lewis carpooled with veteran coaches Al Britt of Hobbton and Gary Fowler of Clayton to the Holley home on Wednesday during an informal visitation. Current Harrells coach Brian Aldridge then arrived, along with Price. </p><p>Lewis remembers it resembled a coaches' clinic, much like the funeral. </p><p>"We sat around and had a good time,'' Lewis said. "We talked about old times and stuff like that. Jack would have enjoyed being there.''</p><p>Holley coached for 48 years, and Hoggard coach Scott Braswell admits being partial to old football coaches, who also are difference-makers in the lives of players.</p><p>Shortly after Hoggard hired Braswell in the mid-1990s, he didn't know what to make of Holley, with his flat-top haircut, when he first met him.</p><p>However, it did not take long for them to form a friendship, with occasional rounds of golf.</p><p>"Your first thought is drill instructor,'' Braswell said. "After a while, you realize he had warmth that you might not pick up at first glance.</p><p>"The turnout for the funeral was a testament to the many lives he touched. It is a tribute to a beautiful man.''</p><p>Not everyone close to Holley attended the funeral and burial at Rockfish Cemetery. Lifelong friend and former NFL quarterback Roman Gabriel did not.</p><p>He said it was difficult to interact with the Holley family during the grieving process, plus he is coping with the imminent death of a cousin suffering from brain cancer.</p><p>"The one thing about Jack was he embodied everything sports is supposed to be about: honesty, character and heart,'' Gabriel said by phone Friday morning. "That was Jack Holley. They only made one of him and he will be missed.</p><p>"I still run into people when I am out on the road that were coached by Jack,'' Gabriel said. "They have nothing but unbelievable things to say about the man.''</p>